Marlboro AD O'Donnell steps aside to help colleague

Jonnah O'Donnell has been a fixture at Marlboro High for three decades, first as a star athlete, then as a teacher, coach and administrator.

JUSTIN RODRIGUEZ

Jonnah O'Donnell has been a fixture at Marlboro High for three decades, first as a star athlete, then as a teacher, coach and administrator.

O'Donnell cares about Marlboro so much so that she would give up her job to help a colleague in the district. As reported in the Times Herald-Record last week, Dave Onusko will replace O'Donnell as Marlboro's athletic director for the 2013-14 season.

But O'Donnell will return as Marlboro's athletic director in 2014-15, according to superintendent Ray Castellani.

By stepping down as AD, O'Donnell, a 1984 Marlboro graduate, saved Onusko's job. Due to budget cuts, Onusko, a business teacher at Marlboro, was scheduled to lose his full-time position a year before being eligible to retire. He would have been cut to part-time status.

Enter O'Donnell.

O'Donnell gave up her full-time athletic director and teaching position to Onusko and will work as a full-time physical education teacher in 2013-14.

"If I didn't save Dave's job, it would have worn on my conscience," said O'Donnell, a former star Marlboro softball and basketball star who took over as athletic director in 2009. "I hope someone would do it for me. My parents dedicated their entire life to the district and they instilled in me to give back."

According to Castellani, the move is pending the district's budget approval on May 21.

"Jonnah did this out of the goodness of her heart," Castellani said, "and it speaks volumes about how much she cares."